A Fable Untold
by SimGurl
Summary: Heroes come about in many ways. The title of hero is something many wish for. Yet not everyone shares that dream. Sometimes, however, fate makes the most unwilling being into something they never wished, nor hoped to be. Once chosen, Sparrow will find out that destiny has a way of molding you into something great, at any cost.
1. Chapter 1 A Cold Beginning

_Disclaimer:_ Lionhead Studios is the owner of Fable. I do not own anything.

Chapter 1: A Cold Beginning

_Splat._

A young boy's eyes widened in shock when he felt something gooey and wet land on his head. He really hoped it wasn't what he thought it was. Fortune wasn't on his side however, and he was disgusted that it was bird poop.

"Ugh!" He groaned in disgust and quickly tried to wipe it all off his head.

Rose, his older sister, turned slightly from their small bonfire and glanced at him to see what had happened. "What was that? Oh! Yuck." She wrinkled her nose in disgust, but by the slightly twitch of her lips, he could easily see she was also amused by his misfortune.

He couldn't help but shoot her a dirty look as he wiped his now even filthier hand on his patched up pants.

"Well... I hear that's lucky. Like finding a four leaf clover," She told him in attempt to make him feel better. "Although I think I would prefer the clover."

He pouted and wrapped his arms around himself again, doing his best to protect himself from the harsh cold winds of winter. Like usual, winter in Albion was miserable. Especially for orphans like he and his sister, who had only a small shack, if you could call it that, and their small bonfire that was just enough to keep them from freezing to death.

It was early winter so the chill and snow wasn't as bad as it could be yet. He dreaded to think of what would happen to him and Rose when winter truly did hit. He may only be eight, but he wasn't clueless when it came to them possibly dieing this winter.

"Look, little Sparrow..." Hearing his nickname that she had given him snapped him out of his darkening thoughts. Glancing up at her, he saw that she was once again eying Castle Fairfax, that sat tauntingly in the distance from them, with a faraway look in her eyes. So many times he had seen the broken hope shine in her eyes as she gazed at the castle for hours.

"Castle Fairfax looks so nice in the snow," She commented somberly. "Imagine the grand dining hall. I bet Lord Lucien's having roast duck this time of year."

Her gaze that was stuck firmly on the castle filled with sadness. "But he must be really lonely since his wife and little girl died. In that big castle, all by himself..." She let out a small sigh. "If only we could live there."

At that moment, before she could say anything more, cheering sounded from the alley around the corner. Both children turned towards the direction of the alley in curiosity. "What is going on over there?" Rose asked rhetorically, baffled by the ruckus. If there was one thing that was good about Bowerstone Old Town was that it remained fairly quiet despite the frequent crimes.

She glanced over her shoulder to look at him. "Come with me little brother." She motioned him to follow her before taking off down towards the ally.

Reluctantly, he pulled away from the fire and quickly followed after her. Rose was in her early teens, and therefor had a much bigger stride than he did, which made it particularly difficult to keep up with her.

As he turned the corner and headed into the ally, he saw a familiar man stop his sister half way down the alley. He scowled angrily at who it was and sped up to get to Rose faster. "Hello there, young Rose. You look hungry." Arfur said arrogantly, as his gaze scanned over her lustfully. "Have you reconsidered my offer?"

Rose vehemently glared at him. "We'll never be that hungry. The answer is _no_!" She snapped heatedly, shaking her head and turning away from him so his eyes couldn't wander over her body. She kept a firm eye on the grubby man however, and only glanced away quickly to check on her brother, who had walked up to her side.

Arfur's eyes narrowed in annoyance, but his smug smirk remained. "You'll be back. And I'll be waiting for ya."

Sparrow gently nudged his sister's side, prodding her to get away from Arfur. "Come on, little Sparrow, let's see what's going on." Rose said abruptly as she sharply turned towards the increasing noise of shouts at the end of the alley and briskly headed towards it without sparing either of them another glance.

He shot Arfur a dirty look before once again following after her. He didn't need to see Rose's face to know she was fairly upset now. She had folded her arms around herself in a protective manner as she slowed to a walk when she began to reach the crowd of men and women.

"That filthy creep... I hate him." He heard her mumble to herself in frustration.

Arfur had been harassing his sister for the past year now after she had started having a problem she refused to tell him about. He didn't understand exactly what the creepy man wanted his sister to do for him, but whatever it was made Rose uneasy and angry. He knew it was bad because Rose almost never passed a chance to get them food.

What he did know though, was that Arfur was one of those people that the world could do without.

* * *

><p>"Oh... It's just a trader." Rose appeared to be unimpressed and a bit disappointed. The opposite could be said about the crowd of spectators, though. They were all tightly packed together, pushing and shoving to see what the trader had to sell.<p>

A woman beside them caught his eye, however. To him she looked rather like one of the gypsies he and Rose had stayed with last winter. Her clothing consisted of a scarlet robe like dress and simple sandals. She wore her hood up, making it impossible for him to guess her age.

What caught his eye about her though was that unlike the other adults, she seemed to a strong presence. Her stance, though relaxed, was tense in a way that she seemed to be prepared anything, kind of like how the soldiers were when they were on guard duty. Relaxed, but always on guard. He wasn't sure if he was over thinking it, but she seemed to radiate something he wasn't sure how to put it into words.

"I can't see anything past this lot." Rose complained as she bounced in place in attempt to see over the crowd, oblivious to the odd woman and his growing unease of her.

"A-ladies and a-gentleman..." An familiar exaggerated sounding voice rang out over the crowd, making Sparrow and Rose quickly realize that this was Murgo. Murgo was well known for conning people into buying useless junk that he always claimed had some magic ability.

"I have traveled the land accumulating wondrous and mysterious objects- which I now offer you for the modest price of five gold," Murgo continued on, and then motioned at an old stand up mirror. "Consider this. This is truly a magical mirror. For as long as you look into it, it will make you beautiful!"

Murmuring swam through the crowd as people debated over whether or not it was worth buying until a man's voice sound over noise. "I'll take it!"

"Very wise! Now just remember: the magic only works if you look at it in complete darkness." Murgo told the man with a rather fake grin. He then moved to another object that appeared to be a music box.

"Ah, now this is truly a marvel," He said, looking out at the crowd as though he were about to share a great secret. "This small, unassuming box is actually a device created by the ancients. As used by the Old Kingdom rulers themselves! Turn the handle three times, and you shall be granted a single wish!"

At that statement most of the crowd huffed their disbelief and began to head back to whatever they had been doing before the trader caught their interest.

"There's no such thing as magic!" Rose denied bitterly, frowning. This caused the gypsy woman he noticed earlier to turn towards them.

"We live in grim times indeed, if the young are too world-weary to believe in magic," She stated, looking straight at them, or at least he thought she was. Her hood made it fairly hard to what she looked like, but you could vaguely see that something was wrong with her eyes. "Most children your age believe eagerly." She continued, making his sister more annoyed.

Rose turned to look at her fully, eyes narrowed in annoyance. "Look, I can see that your eyes are bad, but I'm telling you, that music box is rubbish." Rose snapped fairly harshly, making Sparrow glance up at her in surprise.

The woman didn't seem to be bothered with his sister's rudeness, however. "That's what the seller thinks. He has no idea what he stumbled upon. But you have an inkling, don't you? Some part of you wants to believe it's magic."

Now it was Sparrow's turn frown. He didn't understand why the woman was being so persistent about the music box. What was the point in convincing them that it was magic? He did find himself swaying towards the idea, though. It would be great for he and Rose if it really was magic...

They watched the woman turn away and start to walk down the alley they had just come from. "What? You... you really think it could be?" His sister asked, seemingly just as taken aback by the persistence. However, he could tell his sister was beginning to cave to the idea just like himself.

The woman came to a halt and turned her head ever so slightly towards them. "For five gold coins, you could have your answer."

"For five gold coins, we could eat for a week." Rose shot back.

The woman once again began to walk away. Though, she kept speaking. "Listen to me, Rose: at the end of that week, you and your little Sparrow would be no closer to your dream- no closer to inside of that beautiful castle." With that said, she had walked out of hearing and speaking range.

Rose was silent for a moment before she turned to him with a troubled expression. "What if it is real? I bet we could get five gold pieces... and maybe this could be our way out of here, after all? What is there to lose, little Sparrow?" Rose seemed to be trying to convince herself more than him, but it worked for him too.

The thought of having something to do for once that could possibly be fun sent a surge of excitement through him. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt this way.

"Come on, there must be someone around here that will pay us gold to... do something." She said a bit unsure, glancing around them in hope for a job.

* * *

><p>They began to walk and look for anything that they could do. They past Murgo's caravan and a man named Monty, who was yelling up sweetly to a young woman, apparently named Belinda, who was standing on the second story balcony of the house across the street. Both gazed at one another lovingly. It was obvious to even him that they were trying to be quiet has they spoke, but despite their efforts, Belinda's mother quickly found them speaking to one another, much to the couple's chagrin.<p>

"Oi, kids! C'm'ere a minute!" Derek Beck, one of the few guards in Bowerstone Old Town called out to them. He seemed to be frazzled about something today. When he was like this it was usually because he had lost something that would get him into trouble. He wasn't the best guard, but he was most certainly the most kind though.

"Hello, Derek." Rose greeted him with a smile. "Lose something?"

Usually Derek would try to stand up for himself before admitting he had indeed lost something, but today seemed to be different. "My arrest warrants. Blew right out of my hands." He told them urgently. "They could be in all corners of Bowerstone by now, and I can't leave my post."

"How about you find them for me?" He looked at them in hope. "You could be like little constables! Sounds fun right?"

"How much do little constables get paid?" Rose demanded with determination.

The look of shock Derek had was rather comical in Sparrow's opinion. "Paid? Listen kids, these are the five most wanted criminals in Bowerstone."

"Yeah? Well how badly do you want 'em?" Rose narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms.

"Fine. One gold for all five warrants." Derek caved in, seeing that neither child was going to give in doing it for free.

"Deal." Sparrow and Rose agreed at the same time. Rose glanced down at her brother in slight shock before smiling.

He rarely ever spoke. Mainly because he really didn't see a reason to. Rose was the one who always took charge in any situation, rarely giving him a need to speak. It seemed to bother Rose that he was so quiet for some reason, though.

With that, Derek shooed them away to start the search, and they began looking for another job as well as they looked for the warrants. "Keep an eye out-" Rose began to say, but he nudged her and pointed at a man who seemed to be desperately searching for anyone who would be willing to help him.

"Let's go see what he's doing." Rose grabbed his hand and they went over to inspect what was going on.

A group of men were mocking the man for an invention he had created. The invention was a little box looking thing that was propped up on long pegs and had a small circular glass that jut out in front of it. The thing was pointed at a large board that had a painting of some scenery.

"Hello children." The goofy looking man gave them a kind smile when he noticed them walk up. The three men stopped their mocking to watch them curiously.

"Hello." Rose greeted back, looking at the invention curiously. "What's that?"

"This? Why it's only the most amazing device ever conceived. It grabs your very likeness and transfiddles it onto a magic piece of paper. It's going to make me very rich!" He told them with great enthusiasm. Sparrow looked at the man in confusion, not understanding a word of the explanation. He had never heard anyone speak like that before. Perhaps he was crazy like those men had been saying?

"If only I could find someone to modellify for it..." The man sighed sadly.

Rose seemed to think something over for a moment. "We'll do it... for a gold piece."

The man scratched his chin as he thought it over. "Hmm... I only have one gold left. But you're right: I should investalise it into my new venture. Deal." He smiled at them cheerfully.

Rose turned to him and gave him a satisfied smile. "A gold piece just to stand there. Sounds all right, doesn't it?" She asked, wanting his opinion.

"You're cheating yourself, Barnum." One of the men jeered at the man now known as Barnum.

Barnum ignored the man and watched them hopefully as he waited for a sure answer from the two. "Alright." Sparrow gave him a nod.

Barnum proceeded to lead them up to the front of the board with the painting and told them all they needed to do was to a quick pose for him. Rose did a cutesy pose and he struck a hero pose that he had seen in a book one time. It all went well and Barnum couldn't have been happier.

He paid them the gold piece and went on their way after saying a quick goodbye to him. Sparrow found himself liking the cheerful man and wondered if they would ever see him again. For the man's sake he hoped the business did turn out as well as he hoped it would. Though, he wondered if they should have warned him to get rid of the thesaurus he had bought from Murgo. The silly, odd words weren't likely to help him get much business.

* * *

><p>"One gold piece!" Rose said happily, clutching the coin with a smile before putting it into her pocket where she wouldn't loose it. Sparrow smiled back, glad to see her so happy for once.<p>

The happy moment ended however when a loud yelp of pain came from what sounded like a dog. Without a word, his sister took off to where the cry sounded from and he followed closely behind her. What he saw when they reached the dog shocked him.

A group of children were surrounding Rex, a local bully, who was holding a wooden sword and waving it threateningly at the poor creature that was cowering down from him. He felt hatred surge up in him at Rex and all the other children who found this to be thrilling entertainment.

"What the hell are you doing!?" Rose walked up to Rex with her hands on her hips, looking as angry as he felt.

Rex turned around and sneered down at her. "What's it to you?" He reached out and pushed her before leaning back and smashing his forehead against hers.

"Ah!" Rose gasped in pain as she fell down and blacked out for the hard hit to the head.

"You hit a girl!" One of the younger boys in the crowd cried out in fearful shock.

"Yeah, and now I'm going to hit another one!" Rex grinned deviously as he stalked towards Sparrow.

Sparrow couldn't say he remembered what all happened next. All he knew was that suddenly he was angrier than he had ever remembered being, everything turned red, and he had pulled off his own wooden sword that he had never had a reason to use before.

He didn't realize he had even swung the sword until Rex had managed to stab him in the side while flailing around which caused him to come out of the rage he had been in. He quickly looked to see what damage he had done while Rex backed up to get some space between them.

Rex was now sporting a split lip, a large bruise that was forming on the side of his head, and he kept holding his side where Sparrow supposed he had hit him too. He also noticed Rex was also looking a whole lot less sure about himself though, and couldn't help but feel smug about it. He pushed the feeling down however when he saw Rex was once again heading towards him.

He managed to dodge the heavy swing the older boy ran at him with, and he took the chance to smack the hand that he was holding his sword with before Rex could make another swing.

Rex yowled in pain and dropped the sword, clutching his hand. Sparrow pushed him to the ground then kicked the wooden sword away from Rex. "Argh!" The older boy groaned in pain and coward down. "Leave me alone! You nutter!" He scrambled up and ran away crying.

Rose grunted as she started to come to and Sparrow ran over to her. "Ow..." Rose moaned holding a hand to her head as she got up. "Did you see that? That lunatic hit me right in the head."

She looked down at him and frowned. "Thanks for your help, but I could have taken him." She said with slight frustration, looking upset at having needed help. Sparrow did his best to ignore the slight hurt he felt at her annoyance.

He dropped the sword to the ground and watched her walk over to the dog. He stood there for a moment, observing how his sister's frustration disappeared completely and was replaced by compassion for the wounded dog, before slowly walking over to them.

"Poor thing. You've had a horrible time." Rose said as kindly as she could, crouching down slowly to its height so she wouldn't give it more reason to be afraid. "Don't be afraid, I won't hurt you." The dog whimpered nonetheless, still shaking.

"What you need is someone nice to look after you." Rose said pityingly. This seemed to perk the dog up a bit and he barked happily. This caused Rose to look briefly crestfallen, and the dog having noticed whimpered hopefully, causing her to frown more.

"We can't keep you." She told the dog firmly. Sparrow opened his mouth to protest, but was cut off by Rose before he could utter a word. "We can barely take care of ourselves as it is." She stated sternly, sending Sparrow a quick look.

Sparrow ignored the look and gently pet the dog, who licked his hand in return. Rose sighed silently when the dog looked back up at her and whimpered again. "I'm sorry, but we can't keep you." Rose stood up and pulled Sparrow with her briefly. "Come on."

Sparrow glanced back worriedly at the dog, who watched them leave sadly, but surprisingly didn't try to follow them. Turning forward again, Sparrow spotted something on the ground not too far ahead of them. He ran over to it and picked it up to inspect it. He couldn't read, but judging by the picture of the man on it, this was one of warrants Derek needed.

"You found one!" Rose, who peered over his shoulder to see what he was looking at, cheered. "Our first warrant! Maybe the others won't be too far away from this one."

Shrugging, he folded the warrant and put it into his pocket. A man by the only functioning warehouse in Bowerstone Old Town had apparently spotted them and noticed the toy gun Sparrow had hanging off his belt. "You, boy with the toy gun!" The man called out to them. "Could you come here a minute?"

Blinking their surprise, they headed over to him warily. The man was glancing around as though he expected someone or something to jump out at him as he wrung his hands together nervously. "Do you need help with something?" Rose prodded after a moment of silence.

"Uh... yeah." He hesitated. "You kids aren't afraid of beetles, are you?"

Rose was baffled by the question. "No, that would be silly."

The man let out a forced chuckle. "Yes, no one would be afraid of loathsome, evil beetles..."

Sparrow was very unimpressed with the man before them. He didn't like liars, even if it was over something like this. "We'll help you if you need it, but for a gold." He stated before Rose could, wanting to get whatever the man wanted them to do over with.

The cowardly man suddenly looked relieved and somewhat cheerful. He opened up the warehouse and pushed Sparrow it quickly. "Shoot the beetles. Shoot to kill. And while you're breaking their hateful little heads open, try not to break any of my stuff." He told him before slamming the large doors shut.

Sparrow shot glare over his shoulder despite knowing the man would never see it. With a silent huff, he walked in a bit further into the dim lit warehouse. From what he could see of the warehouse there were no beetles, but he could hear the faint sounds of the flapping their wings. "Hey, kid." Arfur called to him from the side window. Sparrow glared at him, but headed over to see what he wanted.

"Balthazar owes some protection money to Nicky the Nickname." Arfur informed him. "So how about you leave the beetles and smash his stock up instead? I'll give you a gold on Mr. Nickname's behalf."

Sparrow rolled his eyes and headed up the stairs where the beetles were. He ignored Arfur's growl of annoyance at being ignored and kept his eyes out for the beetles. He turned his gaze up to the roof to see where the beetles were hiding in the beams. He grabbed the toy gun and glanced down at it. Beetles weren't all that tough, but he doubted his toy would be enough to kill them. It was his only option though, so all he could do was hope for the best.

He eyed one that was off a bit away from the others and aimed. He was amazed when he saw the bug fall to the ground dead with just the one shot. Having tested out the gun, he quickly picked off the other four and headed back down.

Arfur was glaring daggers at him. "Oh, crap! Do you know what I had to do to get those beetles!? I'll remember this, kid." He declared threateningly before stomping away.

* * *

><p>Balthazar praised him giddily as he dug out the coin from his pocket for them. Rose just stared at him for a moment with that he guessed was surprise. "Wow, I didn't know you were so good at fighting." She praised him with a smile. Even though she was smiling Sparrow noticed the brief flash of sadness in her eyes.<p>

He just shrugged slightly in response, not bothering to comment on it. He understood that it wasn't him that she was disappointed with, but the fact she hadn't been of any help with the small task. After what happened with Rex he was sure she was feeling down with herself.

Rose sighed quietly at his lack of response and grabbed his hand to lead him away from the warehouse so they could begin their search once again. After a moment of glancing around she suddenly turned sharply towards a box that was by the warehouse stairs. "I think I found another warrant!" She said happily, running over and inspecting the paper. "That's two now and we've gotten another gold coin. We're really doing it."

Right as she finished speaking, they heard something bounding towards them. They quickly turned too see what it was and saw that it was the dog from earlier, this time with something in its mouth. Curious, Sparrow gently took it from the dog, who seemed all too eager to hand it over. "It's another warrant." Rose said in surprise, before petting the dog. "Good boy!" She praised the dog, who barked back happily, and stared at her expectantly.

Rose frown a bit sadly, easily guessing what the dog was up to. "We still can't keep you, though." The dog whimpered pitifully, and once again Sparrow found himself being drug away.

* * *

><p>The next twenty minutes of their time was spent listening to a drunk man named Pete and his angry friend named Betty argue over Pete's drinking habits. Despite Betty's instance on him stopping his drinking, Pete told them if they got his alcohol back from Magpie, a well known thief in the area, he'd give them a gold for it.<p>

So, they headed to a nearby alley way where Magpie was commonly seen and got the bottle back with ease. The thief had been in a deep, drunken sleep so all they had to do, in Sparrow's case, was walk up and grab it.

When they got back though, Betty informed them that if they gave her the bottle instead of Pete, she would give them the gold piece. So, now it was just a moral issue, Sparrow supposed as he thought it over. It really didn't matter either way to him, but seeing Betty try so hard to help her friend was enough to make him give it to her instead of Pete. Besides, they could use one less drunk in Bowerstone Old Town. She also gave them another reward as well, though. Apparently someone had stuffed one of the warrants into the bottle much to Rose's glee.

Only a few minutes later they stumbled on the last warrant that was by a lamp post just a few feet from Pete and Betty. He wondered how they hadn't seen it earlier when they had been wandering around.

"That's all the warrants." Rose said, double checking to make sure they were all there. "Let's head back to Derek and give them to him."

Sparrow nodded and they started on their way back to Derek. Everything was fine until they were stopped in an alley by their least favorite person.

"Stop right there you little brats." Arfur demanded coldly.


	2. Chapter 2 A Cruel Goodbye

Chapter 2: A Cruel Goodbye

"Listen creep, I told you no this morning." Rose snapped angrily, moving in front of her brother to block Sparrow from Arfur in case he tried something.

"Shut it, girl!" Arfur growled. "This isn't about that. Those warrants you're collecting, I want them." He pointed at himself, glaring at them.

"So does our friend the guard." Rose threw back.

This seemed to only make Arfur angrier with them. "Yeah? Well you're going to give them to me. See?" He told them menacingly. "Otherwise, there will be trouble."

Sparrow eyed the man warily and glanced around discretely, looking for a way to distract Arfur long enough for them to get away. No one was around who would help them though, and he couldn't see anything lying around that would help them in this situation.

"There will be trouble alright." Rose said confidently, seemingly not as worried as himself. He glanced up at her with worry, wondering what she was thinking. "You take these, and I'll tell our friend what you really want."

Arfur glared at them for a few moments before he huffed in annoyance. "Alright you little hard case. What's he paying ya? A gold piece? I'll give you a gold piece right here. Save you the walk back."

Much to Sparrow's shock, his sister seemed to be considering the idea. "Well... a gold piece is a gold piece..."

If the situation was different, then he may have actually agreed to the whole thing, but it was Arfur. He refused to help the thug in _any_ way. He most certainly wouldn't allow his sister to give into the guy either.

Seeing no other choice, Sparrow grabbed Rose's hand and took off running in a dead sprint. Rose yelped in shock when she was suddenly being pulled and tripped a bit before picking up her footing.

Arfur stared at them in confusion for a moment before realization hit him on what was going on. Fortunately for Sparrow, Arfur had been caught of guard just long enough for him to push into him as they ran by. With a thunk, Arfur crashed to the ground, cursing.

"Where do you think you're going!?" He yelled as they made their escape. He hurriedly pushed himself up of the ground and went to go after them.

Sparrow slowed down when they finally got close enough to Derek where Arfur wouldn't dare try anything again. He released his grip on Rose and they took a quick break to regain their breath. He caught Rose staring at him while they rested as though there was something she wanted to say to him about what happened, but remained silent even as they walked the rest of the way to Derek.

"Did you find them?" Derek asked hopefully as they walked up.

Rose handed him the crinkled papers she was still holding without a word. "Thanks," The guard sighed in relief. "You're a life saver." He reached into one of his pockets and grabbed a gold piece.

"Now, usually justice is its own reward, but as these aren't normal circumstances, here's your gold piece." Derek smiled at them warmly, giving the gold to Rose, who quickly put it in her pocket with the other three. They were then shooed away so that Derek could put the warrants somewhere safe.

* * *

><p>"Well... that should sort out this town." Rose said with a small sigh. "We only have four gold pieces, though. Who else could possibly need help now?" She looked down at him as if wondering if he had the answer.<p>

Sparrow was unable to reply however, as their answer came in the form of Monty, the man who had been speaking with Belinda, the young woman standing on her balcony earlier this morning. Monty had gone off to sulk by fruit and vegetable stands after getting chased off by Belinda's mother. He was crying pitifully as he stood there and gazed sadly at Belinda's house.

Sparrow followed after Rose when she had apparently decided to go speak with him. "What's wrong with you?" Rose asked curiously, causing Monty stop his sniffling.

He turned his sad gaze to them and let out a long dramatic sigh. "Oh, little ones, my situation is unbearable. Words can't even begin to describe it." He told them just as dramatically as his sigh had been.

Sparrow really hoped they wouldn't have to stick around this guy for much longer. He wasn't one for drama and this guy was just plain annoying. He didn't see what that woman Belinda could see in the guy.

"Looks to me that you fancy the girl who lives over there." Rose commented, acting interested. "But it seems her mother is against it and locked her away."

"Oh, yes..." Monty sighed again. "If only I could get his letter to her and we could runaway together." He said, glancing down at the letter in his hand.

"We could take it to her for you if you give us a gold piece." Rose told him, causing Sparrow to look at her like she was crazy. There was no way they could get into the house without being caught.

Monty stared at them with hope and quickly agreed, handing over the letter to Rose. "Make sure that letter gets to Belinda. No matter what, don't let her mother get her hands on it." Monty told them firmly.

Rose gave him a nod before pulling Sparrow along with her to Belinda's home. He didn't see this ending well for them. "Knock on the door and let's see who answers." Rose told him. Sparrow grumbled at being the one who had to do it and gave the door two quick knocks with his fist.

Only a moment after, Belinda's stern faced mother flung the door open. She gave them a severe look that said there would be trouble if they were bothering her for no reason. Sparrow felt his eyes widen slightly as he retreaded behind Rose a bit to get further away from the woman.

Rose seemed just as intimidated by the woman as he was. It took her a moment to form an answer. "Oh... well, um, we got a letter. We need one gold for the postage."

Belinda's mother's demeanor drastically changed at this. "Oh! Why didn't you say so in the first place?" She asked rhetorically. "Come on in." She turned and walked over to a cupboard not too far away.

"Just don't you touch anything." She snapped at them, causing them to freeze in their steps, and turned back to the cupboard.

"Oh, no... What are we going to do?" Rose whispered to Sparrow urgently, as Belinda's mother searched for a coin. "We can get a gold piece right now if we give it to her, but then Belinda won't get Monty's love letter..."

Sparrow sighed silently, checking if Belinda's mother was still occupied, and motioned for Rose to follow him. They crept up the stairs as quickly and quietly as they could. Belinda was scrubbing the floor sullenly. She glanced up briefly, obviously expecting her mother to be standing there, and was shocked to see them. She quickly stood up to see what they wanted and Rose handed her the letter.

Belinda opened it and read over it. A sweet smile had appeared on her lips by the time she had finished it. "This is wonderful!" She said to herself happily before looking at them. "Here's something for your troubles." She gave them the gold piece in Monty's stead before running down stairs.

Rose clutched the coin in her palm and grabbed his hand with her free hand. "We have all the gold pieces we need!" Rose said in excitement. "Let's hurry and go the the trader before Belinda's mother comes after us."

* * *

><p>They got out of the house with no trouble luckily, since the three adults were too busy arguing to notice them. They made a beeline for Murgo's wagon. He seemed to be putting all his things away now since it was getting late in the evening.<p>

"Hello!" Rose called to Murgo, slightly out of breath by the time they reached him. "We've come to buy the music box."

He gave them a little crooked smile. "Very wise, little ones." He went to a crate where he had stored it and pulled it out.

As Rose handed Murgo the money, Sparrow caught a brief flash of scarlet out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head, expecting to see the woman they had met earlier that day again, but found that there was no one nearby.

"Go ahead and turn the handle," Murgo said with his usual enthusiasm, getting Sparrow's attention again. "But mind you go somewhere quiet like."

Rose eagerly took the music box from him. "Come on, little Sparrow." She was all she said before running off towards the alley that led to their shack.

She carefully set the music box down on a cloth covered box that wasn't far from the bonfire they had made earlier that morning.

Rose glanced up at at Fairfax Castle that was slowly disappearing in the distance from the darkness of the night. You could just barely see the silhouette of it at this time of the day.

Sparrow couldn't help but be uneasy at all the hope his sister obviously had in this music box. Something wasn't quite right with it, and his earlier hope was turning into apprehension. He had noticed straight away when Rose had touched the music box that it seemed to just barely radiate something, just like that old gypsy woman. Unlike her though, this feeling called to him soothingly and made him fearful at the same time.

Once again, Rose didn't seem to take notice of it, though. He was beginning to wonder if he was just imagining things. Right now, he could only hope for the best and wish for Rose's desires to come true. Still, he couldn't stop himself from tensing up when she finally put her hand on the handle.

She slowly started to turn it. "I wish... I wish..." He heard her whisper. Both watched in curiosity and hope on the third turn. Neither knew what to expect.

Soft music began to play from it as the top of of the box began to slowly open in a shape that resembled a star. Sparrow jumped back in shock when a long beam of light shot out from it. He grabbed Rose's hand and tried to pull her back when the beam started to grow and the box started to shake.

She shook him off rather forcefully and firmly stayed where she stood. He shakily moved half way behind her and clutched the back of her worn out shirt. He was unable to look away as the music box suddenly began spinning clockwise by itself.

The music box slowly started spinning faster and faster while the light darkened into a light shade of red until it was a deep red. Rose was finally beginning to get scared now as well and seemed to be forcing herself not to move away from it.

They both gasped in fright when the music box was suddenly engulfed in a bright light and then suddenly combusted with a loud boom. Nothing, not even fragments of the music box were left. It was like it had never even been there.

"...What!?" Rose stared at the spot where it had been, looking devastated and crushed. "Where did it go!? Why are we still here!?" Sparrow felt horrible when his sister's eyes filled with tears. He had come to terms long before they had gotten the stupid music box that it wouldn't work for them, but it seemed Rose had ended up putting all the hope she could muster into this working.

She spun around and began walking to their rundown shack in fury. "Five gold pieces... Let's just go to bed."

He watched her for a moment, wishing that there was something he could do or say that would make her feel better. There was nothing he could do though. He quietly began to follow her.

She huffed, brushing away tears as they walked. "I was so sure this would work. I had this feeling like... like we weren't going to be stuck in Old Town anymore... Why didn't the box take us with it?" They came to a stop when they reached the rotten stairs of their shack.

It was once a small house, or so they guessed. Most of it had fallen away and the only roof they had was a couple of boards sitting up on the charred beams. There were no longer any walls and the rotten wood floor always had a damp feel to it. Their sleeping mats were almost always soaked.

Speaking of the mats, the dog from earlier leaped up from his sister's and hurried over to greet them. "What are you doing here?" She demanded. "I know I didn't wish for you."

Sparrow quickly shook his head when she threw him an accusing glare. She sighed and threw her arms up in surrender. "Alright, fine." She told the dog tiredly. "You can stay." The dog barked happily, his tail wagging a mile a minute. Sparrow gave it a small smile and a pat on the head.

"Welcome to our little paradise." Rose stated bitterly as she lied down on her mat. "Come on, Sparrow. Go to bed."

He did as told and lied down on his mat that was beside hers. The dog lied down between them and snuggled against them both.

Sparrow absentmindedly pet him while he thought over the day. He wished they never heard of the music box. He truly had wanted it to work, no matter how pessimistic he was about it. Having something to hope for had been so nice.

He was startled out of his thoughts when the warm, wet tongue of the dog licked him across the face. He gave him a small smile and rubbed the dog's ear. Despite their hopes being crushed, they weren't totally alone anymore. All because of a possible chance to change things.

"Chance... that'd be a good name for you..." He mumbled softly threw a yawn. The dog, now Chance, seemed to understand him anyways and wagged his tail in happiness. Sparrow closed his eyes and pressed his face against the warm fur of the dog. As he began to doze off he heard his sister moving around, probably looking for a piece of charcoal so she could write in the diary she had managed to keep over the years.

Hours later, he was forced from his sleep when Chance started barking and growling. He opened his eyes tiredly and blinked a couple of times to clear his vision. "Whoa... settle down! There's a nice... angry stray dog." He heard someone say.

Sparrow sat up on his mat as Rose stood up to calm Chance down. "Quiet boy!" She snapped to Chance, who ignored her and kept growling softly at the guard.

"What do you want?" She asked the guard, who was eying Chance warily.

The guard turned his narrow eyed gaze to her. "I have word from Lord Lucien, miss," He told them, shocking them. "And he would very much like to see you in his castle. I've been sent to collect you."

Rose rushed over to him. "It did work! Our wish came true!" She grinned in happiness. He smiled back and quickly stood up so they could go and they began heading over to the guard.

"No, boy. You stay here." Rose told Chance when she noticed that he was following them. "We'll come back for you. I promise." Even with the reassurance Chance whined sadly. Sparrow pet him to show his sympathy. He would prefer for Chance to come along with them.

"Let's go, little Sparrow." Rose called to him, already waiting with the guard. Sparrow ran over to them, but took a moment to look back at their little shack before they left. Something told him this truly would be a life changing moment.

* * *

><p>Little did he know how right he was.<p>

It was the middle of the night by the time they finally reached the castle. Even so, neither he or Rose felt tired. They were too excited and nervous to be tired.

They were led through the throne room and to a spiral staircase that was hidden behind a large doorway to the left of the throne. A very refined looking butler stood at the top waiting for them.

"Evening, Jeeves!" The guard greeted the man cheerily. "Here's the kids Lord Lucien asked for."

The butler gave them a tight smile. "Excellent. Hello, young masters."

"Hello, sir." They both greeted back, trying to hide their nervousness. Neither had any idea how to speak or act around a high class man.

"If you would follow me please." He told them before turning and began walking down the long hall.

"We look up at his castle everyday and think how nice it is. We both do." Rose told Jeeves cheerfully as they walked. "But inside is even more beautiful than I imagined."

"It is quite wonderful, isn't it?" Jeeves said, not really sounding interested in what they had to say.

A lanky, scholarly looking man carrying an armload of books was walking towards them. He looked less than pleased at the moment.

"Ah, hello, Master Garth." Jeeves greeted the man with respect. The man, now known as Garth, ignored Jeeves, but spared him and Rose a glance as he passed them by. Once again, Sparrow briefly felt that strangeness that the woman and the music box had, however this time it came from the odd man.

"Huh... a man of few words." Jeeves stated awkwardly, sounding a bit offended. They continued to walk in an awkward silence that Sparrow was the only one unaffected by due to him attempting to figure out what exactly he was sensing.

Rose managed to stay silent for a minute before she had to break the silence, which also caused him to lose track of his thoughts. "Where is the grand dinning hall?

Jeeves appeared to be surprised at the question. "Oh, in the north wing. Lord Lucien hasn't been in there since... since the tragic death of Lady Fairfax and little Amelia..." He sounded reluctant to keep talk about it, as if he were afraid someone would overhear.

Sparrow frowned a bit uncomfortably. He never liked hearing about people losing their family. "Oh, I heard." Rose said sadly. "That was so awful."

Sparrow could see Jeeves frown a little. "Yes... he, uh, misses them terribly."

"So, where does he eat?" Rose asked, changing the subject back. She obviously saw Jeeves' discomfort at talking about the former Lady and her daughter.

He relaxed slightly. "Actually, he takes most of his meals in his study. He's in there working all hours doing research."

"What does he research?" Rose asked, unable to hold back her curiously.

"History mostly. Lord Lucien is quite keen on antiquities of all sorts, but he's chiefly interested on things related to the Old Kingdom." He told them. They were finally approaching the doors to Lord Lucien's study.

"There was a trader in Old Town who said his stuff was from the Old Kingdom." Rose replied with interest.

Sparrow was surprised that Jeeves was still speaking with his sister. He seemed to be irritated with all the questions she had. He couldn't say he liked the man.

"Ah, yes, yes." Jeeves stopped in front of the large doors. "I believe Lord Lucien heard about that."

"We bought a piece of it and made a wish. Now we're here." She told him, not at all bothered by his disinterest. The shock from the wish actually working seemed to have worn off, and she couldn't have been happier. She was sure that everything would be okay now. They would have a home, food, and someone who would make sure they were cared for.

"Well, that's wonderful." Jeeves said, not really listening. "Now, when you speak with Lord Lucien you must show respect at all times. Address him as my lord, and speak only when spoken to."

They nodded, listening to every word. "Yes, sir."

"And do not mention Lady Fairfax or Amelia." He told them sternly, but quietly. He turned and opened the two doors before bowing. "Here we are. Lord Lucien, the children are here."

Sparrow glanced around in awe at the tall bookshelves and maps that covered the walls. A table to their right had books and other papers overing it, and the desk Lord Lucien was standing at looked just as cluttered. What was the most eye catching to him was the large, round stone platform that was in front of the stained glass windows. It looked so out of place in the beautiful room.

Lord Lucien pulled away from his work and turned towards them. In Sparrow's opinion he looked rather tired. His shoulder length, brown hair was put in a short ponytail, and his clothing consisted of a white shirt and purple vest that was tucked neatly into his black pants that matched his black leather boots. All in all he looked very much like the Lord he was.

"Children!" He smiled warmly at them. "It's come to my attention that you have some sort of magical box. May I see it?"

Rose looked more nervous now and kept her head down. "It vanished, my lord." She told him apologetically. Sparrow kept close to her her, afraid that he may become angry. "We were winding it up and we made a wish. And then it started to glow and it disappeared." Rose wrung her hands in front of her nervously.

Lord Lucien only seemed to become perplexed. "After you used it?"

She bit her lip. "Yes, my lord. The man who sold it to us said it was magic."

Lucien observed them for a moment as if he were thinking something over. "The box is of no interest to me. What's remarkable is that you were able to use it. What was your wish?"

Rose squeaked in embarrassment. She didn't know how he would react to it, and the last thing she wanted was to make the man angry.

"Well speak up." Lucien demanded impatiently. "What did you wish for?"

Rose stayed silent for a moment longer before hesitantly answering. "To live in a castle, like this one..."

He chuckled lightly in amusement and walked towards the stone platform with his hand crossed behind his back. "Perhaps that could be arranged. I'm working on building... well I'm working on something wonderful which I need individuals with particular talents."

He turned towards them fully. "Let us find out if you possess them. Would you kindly stand on the circle, please?" He asked them, though they both knew they didn't have an option.

Sparrow tensed, far from comfortable now. His happiness from earlier was quickly fading away, and fear was taking it's place. What would happen if they did have these talents? Or if they didn't?

He shuttered. He wanted to runaway from this situation and go back to their little shack with Chance. His instincts were telling him that his was dangerous and that they needed to leave. They couldn't just walk out on Lord Lucien, though. He would have them killed.

Rose eyed the circle in slight fear. "Um..."

"I promise it won't hurt you." He told them reassuringly, giving them a kind smile.

Having no other choice, they walked onto the stone circle. At first nothing happened, but after a moment the design carved into the stone began to glow a light blue and a similar light flickered faintly around the circle as though it were a barrier.

They jumped in shock. "What was that!?" Rose asked Lord Lucien fearfully.

Lucien inspected it for a moment. "Nothing to worry about." He mumbled the reply to them. "It's true, your blood... you are heroes!" He said in astonishment.

Their eyes widened. "Heroes? You mean like in the old stories?" Rose asked bewildered. There was no way they could have hero blood. They were nothing special. If they were then wouldn't things have been different for them?

Lucien didn't reply however. Hesitantly he reached out a hand towards the blue light. It reacted violently to his touch and shocked him badly enough that both of them felt the stone circle pulse. The light changed to an angry red and Lord Lucien yanked his hand away and held it in pain.

"What are you?" He narrowed his eyes at them. He hurriedly went over to a large book that lied open on his desk. He mumbled something that Sparrow couldn't hear because of Rose's frantic questions on what happened. He could feel himself beginning to shake and moved as close to Rose as he could.

"Quiet!" Lucien snapped harshly, quickly shushing her. "You're heroes, but not any of the three." He mumbled. "One of you is the fourth."

"What's happening!?" Rose demanded frantically, taking several steps back in shock when Lord Lucien pulled out a gun that had been hidden in his vest.

Sparrow could feel his heart pounding rapidly. He tried to move farther back, but his back was pressed against the glass of the large window. He and his sister were finally in a situation where they couldn't escape from.

"This wasn't what I wanted..." Lucien whispered so quietly that Sparrow almost didn't hear him. "But nothing must stand in my way." He pointed the gun straight at Rose.

"No, wait!" Rose sobbed, shaking. "Don't!"

"_NOOO_!"

That heart breaking shriek would be engraved in his memory forever. His sister's last plead for her life. Every hair on his body stood on end and the blood drained from his face as he watched her fall to the ground holding her stomach in agony until her body stilled.

He could barely process what was happening. He didn't understand how it had come to _this_. One moment everything was alright and then suddenly his sister was dead. Shot in the castle she loved so very much. Her dreams were gone now just as she was.

He felt tears run down his cheeks as he stared down at her. Blood was beginning to pool around her. He forced himself to look away and to the man who killed her. The gun was now directed at him.

"I can't allow you to live either." Lucien told him sounding as tired as he looked. "I'm sorry."

Sparrow pressed against the glass harder and tried to prepare himself for death. He never wanted any of this. He had just wanted to be happy with his sister. He wanted to wake up from this nightmare. How he wished it truly was just a nightmare.

He felt the pain of the bullet before he heard the gun. There was a crash behind him and he was suddenly aware that he was falling. His mind was unable to process what exactly was happening and could only watch the light from the hole in the glass grow fainter and fainter as he fell farther away from his sister.

Pain flooded his senses again when he crashed straight into the side of a roof and fell onto the snowy stone street. Slowly, his body started to go numb after what felt like an eternity of just lying there in blinding pain while blackness began to creep up and blind him. He was vaguely aware that footsteps were approaching him.

The footsteps stopped about a foot from him, and he could now hear what sounded like clicking of claws on the stone ground continue towards him. A moment later he felt something wet and warm touch his hand making it twitch. He tried to open his eyes to see who and what was near him, but his body refused to respond to his wishes. All he could do now was wait for death to take him as it had his sister.

"Death is not your destiny today, little Sparrow." He heard the voice of a familiar sounding woman say before he finally drifted off into nothingness.


End file.
